Storage battery charge indicator



July 27, 1943.

J. D. KNISELY STORAGE BATTERY CHARGE INDICATOR Filed March 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 VEI'\ITOR dmmg s .wy Momma July 27, 1943. J. D. KNISELY 2,325,251

STORAGE BATTERY CHARGE INDICATOR Filed March 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I275 CHAR of H 1200 {1 M50! 3/ //25 H [8011' 650 AT ORNEYS Patented July 27, 1943 s rereeah :e i'r rERY CHARGEINDICATOR? .ianies lihli fihisely, Seattle, v e i erimtiee iareh '25, 1940; seeamoltzsisus eel-aims. (013265-44) My present invention relates to a, storage hat-- tery chargeindicatoiz, r

My invention consists essentially of immersir g two U tubes in the electrolyte of-a battery, one nearthe bottom of the hattery cell, and one near the top, the upperU tube being disposed just suffici'ently below the surface that normal evaporation 'of the' elec rolyte will not uncover The V of different depth, the differential of hydrostatic pressure is directly: proportional to thsrieciiic gravity. Therefore, my device operates cm plan that diiferenti'al pressure gauge'rriayheused to indicatethecharge in "a. storage battery cell. Airexpansicn, restricted dimeri'si'oiis, small pressure fiuctuations;sticking menisci, and plan'- ger of losing calibration are factors which prohibit the ential gauge for this purpose. tratedin the accompanying drawings,is specifically created to overcome these objections The'pri'ncipal object of my present invention is to provide a storage" battery charge indicator which is characterized by.extremelsimplicityin 1:.

con'structifin; a factor that c0i1tributeshothto its certainty "of operation and enables one to pro duce it so economically that it can lee-generally used in storage batteries, arid can be incorporated.

Y ing 'the; int lic as apart-thereof. :1 s An important object of my present inveritionis to provide a convenient, visible, charge illdl-i cator that will be, at all times, in the battery ear so that the user of thesame, by mere inspecti'orr of thebattery, may determine the vcondition-"of cells each-having 'such .a device ing the cellor subjecting himself to anyp'os'sihle danger from the battery'raci'ds and the like.

A further object ofmy inve'ntion i's toso proportion the (U tubes" and the capillary tube connecting the samethat the entire device caribe lifted out of abattery without destroying-its 'cali'-- bration, and also. wit-haul; creating the'possibilit'yof 'airentering the tu'bes,-- which would in turn affect its calibration. I I a V 1 s without uncover v 1 portion I war he a faves-earl is'to a .1 5

meniscus t he'capnagy tuiie that the motion et is re en'd sue as that at t ere-white h we fluid- "of the I h f e iql thus; maria-m for; easymeat of aeterminatran use of a cchve'htion'al design of 'clifler My device,-a sillus-'- it? 1: tion of the U tube aridcapma'r tubes.

9 idi ziiig iiescripuon taken mthe streamlining 'tli-awiiig's Figure 2 is a typical, vertical; sectwnai view taken loiigituflinall'y through a dell oi ed" Stirage battery: Y

r igii re 31 s a"vert al;sectional view em ine the unea-strhitufm 2; i

I e crdssfsectidfiail views 'simiiariy numbered lines-"or gure IO'i's a' iier'sp'ective view showingcneiof the'U tubes uSecl W'ith'myi devic'e. "Thedrawirrg might takentki be eithef'the'wipp'er ior lower tube.

Figure 11 is a vertical,- cross-sectiorial fview' thrcugh"the essential p'arts of my battery charge indicating device;

* Referring tocthe drawing-s; throu ghout which I like reference characters indicate like-parts, ll

ifilicatirig "device overflow out of the lower tube so restricts the the indicatorwhere it designates the upper U tube of my device, IS the lower U tube, and I8 the connecting capillary The upper and lower U tubes are formed of any suitable material and are provided with the long leg 20 and the short leg 2|. In the long leg of each U tube is seated a stopper 22 WhlCh serves to seal that end of the U tube and also to seal the point of entry of the tube, the construction being similar upper and lower U tubes; Normally, the-capillary tube 25 is made of small bore.

capillary U tube. Similarly it is fOr ,bothf glass having a relatively tubes must be so ar- 42 is employed. However, in contrast with the conventional means, it is not necessary to remove plug 42 in order to determine the specific gravityof the electrolyte, as my indicator is constantly glving a true rendering of f will not run down and desirable that as the oil descends in the capillary tube the upper tube will so that water will notbe sucked into the short intothe capillary tube in exc ess of the entrl'tppedv air, and thus upset the calibrationbf theu'nit. F The U, tubes have a reduced intermediate pasthe U 3 particularly after mize the likelihood of air entering the tube if:

the indicator is tipped while it isout ofwater; Similarly: in the lower .-U tube, pinching of the passageway at .2 that it minimizes thepossibilityofoil escaping if the indicator is tipped.

...-'I'he glass capillary tube 26 is provided with downwardly extendingportions such as. the long leg 28; and a short leg 3 fl witha sharp return bend-connecting the twolegs as shown at 3 A short bendis :lesirabl e,. even with some restric-' tion at this point, in order that the twolegs will lie reasonably close together sothat a gminimum amount of space will be required .for the instal lation as illustrated in Figures J. and 8,;particu- 1ar1y.,-Itwill bev noted .thattheproportioning of the. device is suchthat,;normally the upper. endof the oil column will'lie between thernark ings shown in Figure 8, and for convenience this may begraduated in erably marked as indicated chargedzg',". umf, dischargedfl,

A preferred installationldevice is'shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, in which the battery case is'recessed at .32- to provide a shielded spacefor willebe .visible for easy inspection withthe remainder, of my device housed within the batterycell, whichin turn is housed within the battery case. To best achieve this I providerecessesatfid and .3 5so thatmy device may set wellinto-thewall of the cell, and thus not interfere with the normal plate -ar rangementof the battery cell, The plates consist, as is usuaLof the negative, plates 36 and the positive. plates 38, the wood separators 39,; and the perforated rubber spacers 40., 1

be of suificient capacity specific gravities, or for the use of'the averageowner, probably prefe as by so doing a syphon water meniscus erably, be placed on the bottom of the battery I the electrolyte of the battery.

, 5, "The lower U- tube of mydevice should, prefelectrolyte. Attention is invited have described my gravities in many other liquids.

Ordinarily, expansion and contractionof the air trapped above the oil column in the capillary tube, which normally is at 56, and above the in the upper U tube 14 would, due to temperature changes, be expected to in the open space at 54, within the upper U tube, with only a minute displacement of the water meniscus will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that. such changes in the invention may be made as are fairly within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1'. A storage battery charge indicator, com prising. an inverted U-shaped transparent capilthe electrolyte of the battery.

2. A .storage: battery; charge indicator, comprising an inverted U-shaped transparent cap- 3. 'Astorage battery charge indicator, comprising an inverted U-shaped transparent capof the battery, capillary tube between the fluid column and the legs of unequal length, each longer leg communicably connected to a different leg of the capillary tube each shorter leg being filled with electrolyte, and a fluid column in the longer leg of the capillary tube influenced by changes in the specific gravity of the electrolyte of the battery.

4. A storage battery charge indicator, comprising tube having its return bend above the level of the fluid electrolyte of the battery and having legs of unequal length terminating below the surface of the fluid electrolyte, a pair of upright U-tubes submerged in the electrolyte and having one leg of each communicably connected to a different leg of the capillary tube and the other leg filled filled with electrolyte, said legs having an intermediate throat, a fluid column in the longerleg of the capillary tube influenced by changes in the specific gravity of the electrolyte and an air bubble trapped in the electrolyte in the upright U-tube connected to the shorter leg of the capillary tube.

'5. A storage battery charge indicator ing an inverted U-shaped transparent capillary tube havingits return bend above the level of the fluid electrolyte of the battery and having legs of unequal length,a pair of upright U-tubes submerged at difierent levels in the fluid electrolyte, seal means in a leg of each U-tube adapted to receive a leg of the capillary tube, and a fluid column in tube influenced by changes in the specific gravity of the electrolyte of the battery.

6. A storage battery charge indicator, comprising aninverted U-shaped transparent capillary tube having its-return bend above the level of the fluid electrolyte of the battery and having legs of unequal length terminating belowthe surface of the fluid'electrolyte, a fluid column in the longer of said legs, a-pair of upright U-tubes submerged in the electrolyte and having one leg of each communicably connected to a different leg of the capillary tube and the other leg of each filled with electrolyte, and calibrated means associated with the capillary tube andthe fluid column to incidate changes in the upper level of the fluid column. I

'I. A storage battery charge indicator, comprising an inverted U-shaped transparent capillary comprise an inverted U-shaped transparent capillary the longer leg of the capillary trolyte in the battery tube having its return bend above the level of the fluid electrolyte of the battery and having legs of unequal length terminating below the surface of the fluid electrolyte, an upright i l-tube having one leg connected to the longer leg of the capillary tube, a second upright U-tube having one leg connected to the shorter leg of the capillary tube said upright U-tubes being sub-c merged in the electrolyte at different levels, a fluid column in tube in contact with the electrolyte fluid in the first U-tube influenced by changes in gravity of the electrolyte of the battery, and an air bubble trapped in the capillary the fluid column and the electrolyte in the upright U-tube connected to the shorter leg of the capillary tube.

8. A storage battery charge indicator comprising an inverted U-shaped transparent capillary the fluid elecand having legs of unequal length terminating below the surfaceof the fluid tube having its return bend above electrolyte, a pair of upright U-tubes submerged in the electrolyte each having one leg communicably connected to a different leg of the capillary tube, the other leg of each U-tube being open to the electrolyte, andfa fluid column in the longer leg of the capillary tube insoluble in the electrolyte of the battery and influenced to rise and fall through the changesin thereof.

9. A storage batterycharge indicator, comprising an inverted tube having its U -shaped transparent capillary legs of unequal length terminating belowthe surface of the fluid electrolyte, an upright ue-tube having one leg connected to the shorter leg of the capillary tube and partially trolyte fluid and having the endof the capillary tube, U-tube connected to the longer leg of the capillary tube and filled with electrolyte fluid, said upright U-tubes lyte at different levels, and a fluid column in the longer leg of the capillarytube in contact with the electrolyte fluid in the second U-tube and influenced by changes in the electrolyte of the battery.

' JAMES D. KNISELY.

the longer leg of the capillary the specific tube between the specific gravity return bend above the level of the fluid electrolyte of the battery and having filled with elecy an air pocket adjacent a second upright h being submerged in the electro the specific gravity of 

